The Complete Walkthrough: Upgrading Windows 8 to Windows 10

This very, very detailed guide will take you every single step of the way through upgrading from Windows 8 (or 8.1) to Windows 10.

Here’s what you’ll need to know and/or do beforehand –

Yes, it’s free. If you have a PC/laptop/tablet running Windows 8 or 8.1, Windows 10 is a free upgrade. In our opinions, it is an upgrade – it’s better than Windows 8 in almost every way (again, our opinions) :)

If you haven’t already (you may have and not know it) – you’ll be downloading just under 3GB (gigabytes) of data – Windows 10 itself. So depending on your Internet speed, that may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

It’s also quite possible that Microsoft has already downloaded Windows 10 to your device without really “telling” you about it. Depending on when you’re reading this you may or may not have already downloaded what you need. You’ll find out quickly when you begin the installation if that’s the case.

This is reversible. You can “try” Windows 10 for 30 days and if you don’t like it, go back to Windows 8/8.1. Plus, we have a guide for that. After 30 days you’re ‘stuck’ with Windows 10, though. Note: this is probably a good thing, it’s unlikely you’ll want to go back to Windows 8 after using Windows 10.

After the potentially long download, you’ll need to be present “at” your computer in order to click a couple of “I Agree” buttons. Then you can ‘leave’ your computer and let Windows 10 install itself – which can take several hours – depending on the speed of your PC. This means…

It’s probably best if you let the upgrade run overnight. It’s about as interesting as watching paint dry.

You will not lose any of your files, folders, Apps, Wireless Network passwords/settings etc. With that said, it is always best to back up your files when upgrading from one operating system to another.

When you’re ready – let’s go!

Start out by closing all open Apps/programs. Then click the “Windows button” in your system tray – that one that’s probably been nagging you to upgrade for a while now (see screenshot below).

Why are you trying to scare/mislead people. I’ve done over 20 upgrades from 7 and 8 and none have taken more than 90 minutes. Also, you left out the option of using the media creation tool, which is very easy.

I used an Asus touchscreen laptop w/ an Intel Core i3 @ 1.4GHz & 4GB of RAM. It took well over 3 hours to do the installation alone – from the time the laptop first rebooted to the Windows 10 “Welcome Back” screen. I’m certainly not lying about how long it took – I wish I was :)

As for the media creation tool – this guide was meant for folks wanting to do the upgrade and maintain all Apps and settings, files and folders – and as easily as possible. If anything, this guide should help to reassure people that upgrading to Windows 10 is easy, which it is… UPDATE: the media creation tool no longer exists. This tutorial is still totally accurate, the comment this was in response to is now less accurate.

As for wiping clean and doing a fresh install, I agree with you that it’s an easy to use tool. Unfortunately there are too many “other problems” that can arise – from as small as needing to find a USB stick to as large as having to change a BIOS setting, the latter being something that can get very tricky to explain in a tutorial due to the vast number of BIOS versions etc. Again, the point of this guide was to show people just how easy it is, albeit a process that can take a while. If it goes faster for them – it’ll be a great surprise! But setting expectations is important.